Whether they know it or not,
presidential contenders competing
against Republican frontrunner George
W. Bush have a friend in Zack Exley.

That's because the 30-year-old
webmaster and mastermind behind
parody site GWBush.com is willing to
do just about anything to disparage
the name and reputation of the Texas
governor.

"He's just the shining symbol of
hypocrisy," Exley said. "He's a
candidate for sale. His stances on just
about all the issues are determined by
his campaign contributors. He'll be the
best president that $70 million can
buy."

As if the GWBush site -- replete with
doctored images of Bush snorting
cocaine and anti-Bush sentiments --
wasn't bad enough, Exley has begun a
campaign to produce a slew of
anti-Bush commercials for radio,
television, and the Web.

"Ideally, money should be taken out of
politics," Exley writes on the site. "But
until then, let's fight fire with fire. Let's
create and fund our own TV and radio
ads to tell the truth about Bush."

Forget about paying high-priced
staffers to craft counter-attacks and
elaborate smear campaigns. When left
to its own devices, the Internet has the
potential to be a powerful and
cost-efficient campaign weapon.

"I've always been interested in politics,
but the Web makes it possible for
regular people to get involved and to
do stuff like this," said Exley. I think
this is going to be a really common way
to fund political projects on the Net in
the future."

Exley's goal is to raise enough money
to produce three radio or TV ads,
mocking Bush based on scripts he has
posted on his site. One such ad
portrays the Texas politician as a whiny
pushover, struggling to memorize
anti-drug slogans fed to him by
campaign advisers engaged in a
"good-cop/bad cop" routine.

Another ad criticizes Bush's easy
acceptance to Yale despite inferior
grades, and a third accuses Bush of
being a draft dodger during the
Vietnam War.

To pay for the ads, Exley is asking site
visitors for contributions, via check or
credit card. But, he says, he won't
spend the money unless he's sure he
has enough to complete production of
the ads.

"I'm not actually collecting the money
as the pledges come in," he said. "Once
I get enough money to produce the
ads, or run them on TV, then I'm going
to run all the (credit) cards.... It makes
it a lot more sensible for people to
contribute if they know that I'm only
going to spend the money for the
commercials."

So far, the campaign seems be
working, Exley said. He has raised over
$4,000 in just two weeks, and
numerous volunteers -- from amateurs
who own expensive recording
equipment to employees of a local
television station -- have offered their
services to help produce the
commercial for free.

The success of Exley's site comes as
little surprise to some political insiders,
especially given Bush's initial
clumsiness in dealing with the online
world.

"Zack Exley is a perfect example of
someone who gets the Net -- not only
in terms of politics, but also in terms of
e-commerce," said Phil Nash, CEO of
Campaign Advantage, a Democratic
Internet campaign strategy firm.

"Governor Bush early on was using
volunteers on his Web site and he
didn't really understand the Net," Nash
said. "Now he's doing a better job. But
it shows that somebody doing an
effective parody site can have a big
effect on a campaign. Candidates for
the rest of the 2000 cycle will have to
deal with these parody sites."

As the ad money continues to trickle in
at an average of $25 a pop, Exley is
busy shaping and refining the site,
which receives graphic art and editorial
contributions from many of the site's
10,000 daily visitors from around the
world.

"That's the best part of this -- all these
people who are helping out and
volunteering. I didn't do any of the
graphics on the site, other people have
sent it all in," Exley said. "We're doing
it by volunteering. We're just regular
people and the Web makes it possible
for people to collaborate."

Back in May, Bush asked the Federal
Election Commission to crack down on
the GWBush.com site, claiming that it
represented a "political committee" with
an agenda to politically ruin the
Republican candidate.

When asked about the claim at a May
press conference, Bush suggested that
"there ought to be limits to freedom," a
comment that has plagued him among
Internet advocates and briefly added
about 50,000 new daily visitors to the
parody site, Exley said.

"My site has gotten a lot of attention
because of Bush trying to shut it
down," he said.

According to an FEC spokeswoman,
Bush's claim against the site is still
under review.

Meanwhile, Exley is making plans for
future ads. "If Bush doesn't become
president, maybe this will be the end of
this experiment," he said. On the other
hand, "maybe this will turn into some
sort permanent gig."